Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Spotify CEO Daniel Ek today spoke out against Apple's App Store policies, joining Twitter CEO Elon Musk, who earlier this week said that Apple was making moderation demands and had threatened to withhold Twitter from the App Store.
At The New York TimesDealBook Summit, Zuckerberg said that only Apple attempts to limit the apps that are in the App Store, and that the App Store policies are not sustainable. As noted by CNBC, Zuckerberg claimed that Apple has "singled themselves out as the only company that is trying to control unilaterally what apps get on a device," which is not a "good place to be."
Zuckerberg went on to praise Google for allowing for alternate content on Android phones. "They’ve always made it so you can sideload and have other app stores and work directly with phone manufacturers," said Zuckerberg. Zuckerberg has clashed with Apple several times over App Store rules, specifically around various purchases that can be made in the Facebook app. Apple wants a 30 percent cut of things like in-app boosts, which Facebook does not want to pay.
Spotify CEO Daniel Ek, meanwhile, made comments on Twitter claiming that Apple gives developers "the illusion of control," and that the App Store is a "threat to the future of the internet" that denies consumers choice.
So how much longer will we look away from this threat to the future of the internet? How many more consumers will be denied choice? There’s been a lot of talk. Talk is helpful but we need action. @CommerceGov@EU_Commission@vestager
— Daniel Ek (@eldsjal) November 30, 2022
Ek has clashed with Apple recently over Spotify's new audiobooks feature. Apple rejected Spotify's audiobook update several times and ultimately did not allow Spotify to direct users to purchase audiobooks through an in-app email signup button.
Ek and Zuckerberg are longtime Apple critics and have been encouraging lawmakers to force Apple to support alternative app stores on iOS devices to reduce fees. Multiple bipartisan bills have been introduced in the U.S., and if these are ultimately passed, Apple would need to make significant App Store changes.
Thursday December 11, 2025 8:49 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple seeded the second iOS 26.2 Release Candidate to developers earlier this week, meaning the update will be released to the general public very soon.
Apple confirmed iOS 26.2 would be released in December, but it did not provide a specific date. We expect the update to be released by early next week.
iOS 26.2 includes a handful of new features and changes on the iPhone, such as a new...
Wednesday December 10, 2025 2:52 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Google Maps on iOS quietly gained a new feature recently that automatically recognizes where you've parked your vehicle and saves the location for you.
Announced on LinkedIn by Rio Akasaka, Google Maps' senior product manager, the new feature auto-detects your parked location even if you don't use the parking pin function, saves it for up to 48 hours, and then automatically removes it once...
Apple has ordered 22 million OLED panels from Samsung Display for the first foldable iPhone, signaling a significantly larger production target than the display industry had previously anticipated, ET News reports.
In the now-seemingly deleted report, ET News claimed that Samsung plans to mass-produce 11 million inward-folding OLED displays for Apple next year, as well as 11 million...
Thursday December 11, 2025 11:28 am PST by Juli Clover
Apple today released new firmware designed for the AirPods Pro 3 and the prior-generation AirPods Pro 2. The AirPods Pro 3 firmware is 8B30, up from 8B25, while the AirPods Pro 2 firmware is 8B28, up from 8B21.
There's no word on what's include in the updated firmware, but the AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods Pro 3 are getting expanded support for Live Translation in the European Union in iOS...
Friday December 5, 2025 9:40 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Apple is about to release iOS 26.2, the second major point update for iPhones since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least 15 notable changes and improvements worth checking out. We've rounded them up below.
Apple is expected to roll out iOS 26.2 to compatible devices sometime between December 8 and December 16. When the update drops, you can check Apple's servers for the ...
Thursday December 11, 2025 10:31 am PST by Juli Clover
The AirTag 2 will include a handful of new features that will improve tracking capabilities, according to a new report from Macworld. The site says that it was able to access an internal build of iOS 26, which includes references to multiple unreleased products.
Here's what's supposedly coming:
An improved pairing process, though no details were provided. AirTag pairing is already...
Monday December 8, 2025 10:18 am PST by Juli Clover
Apple today seeded the second release candidate version of iOS 26.2 to developers and public beta testers, with the software coming one week after Apple seeded the first RC. The release candidate represents the final version iOS 26.2 that will be provided to the public if no further bugs are found.
Registered developers and public beta testers can download the betas from the Settings app on...
Monday December 8, 2025 4:54 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Apple is actively testing under-screen Face ID for next year's iPhone 18 Pro models using a special "spliced micro-transparent glass" window built into the display, claims a Chinese leaker.
According to "Smart Pikachu," a Weibo account that has previously shared accurate supply-chain details on Chinese Android hardware, Apple is testing the special glass as a way to let the TrueDepth...
Wednesday December 10, 2025 12:22 pm PST by Juli Clover
The next-generation low-cost iPad will use Apple's A19 chip, according to a report from Macworld. Macworld claims to have seen an "internal Apple code document" with information about the 2026 iPad lineup.
Prior documentation discovered by MacRumors suggested that the iPad 12 would be equipped with an A18 chip, not an A19 chip. The A19 chip was just released this year in the iPhone 17, and...
Thursday December 11, 2025 4:19 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Apple's next-generation Studio Display is expected to arrive early next year, and a new report allegedly provides a couple more details on the external monitor's capabilities.
According to internal Apple code seen by Macworld, the new external display will feature a variable refresh rate capable of up to 120Hz – aka ProMotion – as well as support for HDR content. The current Studio...
My rule of thumb is that if Mark Z. says something is bad, it's probably actually good. And thank god MR actually restrained itself from putting up yet another Sweaty Mark Photo to illustrate this article!
Whatever. Jealous people who can’t do it themselves. It’s not a crime that people have to pay for what Apple provides. These people are greedy and selfish. And none of us should give a damn what they think.
I’m all up for side loading but I know the truth is that Facebook will immediately require users to side load their app which has every shady data mining feature turned on if you want to use their service
